


When the Stars Align

by pluayboy



Category: South Park
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Background Relationships, How Do I Tag, M/M, Maybe - Freeform, Slow Burn, Supportive Craig Tucker, for now rating is teen but it might go up, kenny is sad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-13 22:23:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21005111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pluayboy/pseuds/pluayboy
Summary: Kenny Mccormick has been dying his entire life. Every time he kicks the bucket he wakes up in his bed perfectly fine and none of his friends seem to remember what happened the day before. After 17 years of this, he's growing tired of it. His frustration is becoming noticeable at school, and a certain black haired asshole seems to take interest in Kenny because of it.





	1. Chapter One

“Shut the fuck up,” Kyle said to Kenny while stifling giggles under his breath, obviously not believing a word that Kenny had just spoke.

“What do you mean, ‘shut the fuck up?’ I’m being serious!” Kenny responded, sounding a bit more frustrated than Kyle did. He shut his locker just a little bit louder than usual and rolled his eyes.

“Mhm, sure. Like we’d forget you dying almost everyday.” Stan piped up. He had been silent for most of the conversation, his hands buried in his jacket pockets and his eyebrows raised.

“Whatever. I don’t know why I expected you guys to believe me.” Kenny huffed. He was 17 years old now, and the consistent dying had just not let up. He was tired of nobody remembering the fact that he had just been decapitated the night before. He was getting so fed up at this point.

“Oh, we believe you alright! As much as we believe that Kyle isn’t an annoying piece of shit.” Cartman laughed after he finished talking, obviously thinking that his insult had be oh so funny.

“Dude! Fuck you!” Kyle quickly took Cartman’s bait and of course, now they were arguing. Stan and Kenny breathed a collective sigh of disappointment and let the two have it out.

The four of them were on their way to the parking lot. School had just gotten out about ten minutes ago and the four of them were excited to leave and go home. It was a Thursday afternoon, and nothing entirely interesting had went down so far. Which is surprising, considering that they lived in South Park.

If Kenny hadn’t been in a bad mood before, he definitely was in one now. He sighed. “Bye guys, I think I’m gonna head home.”

“What? I thought we were all gonna go over to Stan’s and play on his Xbox.” Kyle took a break from screaming at Cartman to look over at Kenny, a frown evident on his face.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m just not feeling it right now. I’ll text you guys later.” Kenny quickly replied before walking over to his car. He didn’t bother looking back, he just got into his beat up vehicle and let his head fall onto the steering wheel. He knew that he shouldn’t be this upset about them not remembering. It’s always been like that, and Kenny’s aware that they’ll most likely never know about the countless times that he’s kicked the bucket. It hurts, though. All he wanted was someone to confide in about his struggles. He wanted to be able to cry on someone’s shoulder about how much dying fucking hurt and not be laughed at. However, Kenny accepted that this was something that wasn’t obtainable.

After about five minutes of him sulking in his car, he hears a knock on the driver side window. It makes him jump a bit and his head shoots upright. He turns to look at who knocked. It was Craig?

“What?” Kenny asks, hoping that Craig can read lips. Craig motions for him to roll down his window. The blonde sighs and turns on his car so he can do just that. After he’s finally able to get it rolled down, he repeats what he said just moments before.

“Are you good?”

“Yes? Why do you care?”

“I dunno. I watched you walk away from your friends and then sit with your head on your steering wheel for a good five minutes. Just wanted to see if you were alright.”

This was strange. Craig Tucker has never cared about Kenny’s well being. In fact, they hadn’t truly had a proper conversation since middle school.

“Yes, I’m doing just fine. Thanks for asking.” Kenny was still extremely confused but figured that he’d just go along with it. For shits and giggles, of course.

“Okay, only making sure.” Craig responded.

“Right.”

“Right.”

“Okay, well, I appreciate your concern, but I should probably get going. “ Kenny spoke after a moment of awkward silence, getting ready to roll the window up.

“What’s the sudden rush for? You didn’t seem in a hurry when you were sulking just minutes ago,” Craig said, and Kenny genuinely couldn’t tell if he was teasing or not because of the monotonous tone of his voice.

“I was not sulking!” Kenny quickly became defensive, before clearing his throat out of slight embarrassment. “What I meant was, something came up. Just now.”

Craig snorted. “Right, right. Got it.” He obviously didn’t believe Kenny, but decided to leave the guy alone. They barely knew each other, for goodness sake. “Bye, Kenny.” He added on after a small pause. He stepped away from Kenny’s car to allow him to leave.

Kenny rolled up his window and huffed afterwards. Why did Craig feel the need to come talk to him? Why was he even watching Kenny in the first place? Kenny put on his seat belt and threw the gear into reverse, backing out of his spot. He decided to not think too much about the out of character and quite awkward interaction he had just experienced. Putting the gear into drive, he drove out of the school parking lot. He was so tired, he really just wanted to sleep at this point.

So, sleep he did. Once he got home, he said hi to Karen and ignored his parents. He walked to his room and collapsed on his bed, quickly falling into a deep slumber and definitely not texting any of his friends like he said he would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello!! so i don't write much so i'm sure this wasn't very great but i hope you liked it anyways! i don't know how fast updates will be, but i'll try to keep them semi-consistent!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this isn't proofread at all lmao live life on the edge babey!

Kenny stared at the ceiling, following the abstract patterns of the popcorn plaster. He’d been awake for around thirty minutes now, but he couldn’t bring himself to move. He still felt exhausted, physically and mentally. Kenny stayed still for another five minutes or so before leaning over to grab his phone off of the bed side table. Sighing, he unlocked the slightly rundown device and pressed on the message app.

Stan: Just checking in to make sure ur alright, how u feeling??

Kenny couldn’t help but smile a bit. Even though his friends could be assholes, he was thankful for the kind moments like this.

Kenny: i’m doing better now, thanks dude

In reality, he wasn’t feeling much better than before, but he knew that sulking wouldn’t do him much good. He checked the time. It was 6:27 PM. 

Kenny threw his legs over the side of the bed and sat up. Stretching his arms out, he sighed and stood up. Kenny pulled on his parka and placed his phone in his pocket. He decided he was going to head to Stark’s Pond, it was always easier for him to relax there. He walked out of his room and out of the front door, but not before saying bye to Karen. He grabbed his car keys out of his pocket and unlocked his car; afterwards he opened the door and hopped inside. Starting up his car, he chuckled a bit while listening to his car board the struggle bus just to turn on. He was glad his car functioned, but it didn’t function very well.

The drive to Stark’s Pond was quite short, which wasn’t a surprise. South Park was a small town and it didn’t take long to get anywhere there. The parking lot was empty, which also wasn’t a surprise. It was already dark out so it didn’t really make sense for people to take a trip to the pond at night. Kenny appreciated the emptiness, though. It was a refreshing change from the chaos of his own home.

Kenny took his time getting out of his car, there was no reason for him to rush. As he walked towards the bench, he pressed the lock button; he had to press it multiple times for his car to actually register it though and lock itself up. He practically let his body flop down onto the bench and let out a deep sigh. This place was probably one of the few genuinely normal places in South Park. The blonde felt like he could sit and relax without anything terrible happening to him.

Well, normally he could sit and relax there.

“Watch out! It’s an angry mob of cows!” An unfamiliar voice yelled out. In the time Kenny stood up to see who the stranger was, he had been trampled by said mob of cows. He wasn’t even given a chance that time.

\--

Kenny woke up in his bed. Again. In his orange parka. Again. Once he remembered what happened he turned himself over to scream into his pillow. He couldn’t believe it. That was seriously one of the most ridiculous ways he could’ve died. Last time he checked, cows didn’t have casual hang arounds at Stark’s Pond. That wouldn’t have happened to a normal person. Sadly, Kenny wasn’t normal. He wished a million times over that he was, though.

“Kenny! Get up! You’re gonna be late for school!” He heard his mom scream from behind his closed door.

“Yeah, yeah.” He groaned, sliding himself out of bed.

As non-hygienic as it was, Kenny couldn’t bring himself to change into another outfit. He decided to stay in the one he woke up in; he couldn’t care less if anyone noticed that it wasn’t a clean outfit. However, he did put on deodorant and brush his teeth. He may have been sad but the last thing he wanted to be was sad and stinky.

After he was done getting ready, Kenny grabbed his book bag and his keys. He quickly left the house, thankful to see that his car was back at the house. It was unknown to him who brought it back, but he didn’t care enough to ask questions.

As he drove to the school, Kenny hummed along to whatever song was playing on the radio. The music cheered him up, even if it was just by a bit. He parked his car in his usual spot and turned it off. Kenny groaned at the thought of school, letting his head fall back on the head rest. He not only hated school, he was also not the best at school. His grades weren’t the best, although that could be equated to the fact that he didn’t really try. Kenny was lazy, not stupid.

Kenny finally got out of his car after attempting to put off class for just a couple minutes more, closing the door behind him. He slung his bag over his shoulder and walked on campus, pushing open the front door to get inside reluctantly. As he walked to his locker, Kenny said hi to some of his classmates as he passed them.

“Hey, Kenny!” He heard Kyle exclaim once he reached his locker. The two of them happened to have lockers very close to one another and the same first class, so Kyle was normally the first person that Kenny properly talked to in the morning.

“Hey, Kyle. What’s up?” He responded with a smile. Socialising with his friends tended to help his mood quite a bit.

“Not much, I’m a little stressed about this English test we have today.” Kyle said while he pulled the materials he needed out of his locker.

“Uh oh. We have a test today?” Kenny asked, his mouth slightly agape. He was definitely not aware of any tests coming up, so there was no way he studied or knew what the test was even about.

“Yeah! Weren’t you paying attention at all this-- never mind.” Kyle cut himself off once he remembered who he was talking to. “But yeah, we have a test today. Good luck, dude. I think you’re gonna need it.” He added on afterwards with a chuckle.

“Yeah, for sure. I think I’m royally screwed.” Kenny groaned. He closed up his locker once he had grabbed everything, shaking his head at his own idiocy. As much as he was aware of his faults in school, he never actually made an effort to fix them.

Kyle was about to respond when the bell rang, signally that it was time for first hour. So, he closed his locker as well and him and Kenny began to walk to class.

“Okay, but for real. I don’t think you have anything to worry about, Kyle. You’re like, super smart.” Kenny said, hoping that it would calm Kyle’s nerves a bit.

“That’s fair, but intelligence won’t do me any good if I haven’t studied.”

“You didn’t study?” Kenny asked. Out of all people, he would never expect Kyle to be someone who didn’t study for a test.

“I did… But that’s besides the point.” Kyle replied, huffing slightly afterwards.

“See! Then you’re worrying over nothing. You’ll do great on the test.” Kenny said with a smile, giving his friend a single pat on the back of reassurance.

“I hope so!”

After their short conversation, they walked into the classroom and took their respective seats.

\---

As expected, the test did not go very well for Kenny. He had absolutely no idea what any of the subject matter was, so he winged it as best as he could. He was assuming that this test score would come back, lightly put, not good.

He was currently leaning against the back wall of the school, smoking a cigarette. It was lunchtime, so Kenny normally took about five to ten minutes out of the break to sneak out to the back and have a smoke. So far, he hadn’t been caught. Thankfully.

Kenny was deep in his own thoughts when he was ripped out of them by someone deciding to lean next to him. He panicked a bit at first, worried that it was admin or someone that would rat him out to admin. When he looked to his left, he was surprised to see that it was neither. It was the same black haired teenager who came up to his car the day before. Craig Tucker.

‘Hey?” Kenny said, sounding a bit confused. He had a right to be confused considering that to his knowledge Craig couldn’t care less about him. However, here he was, standing right next to him.

“Hey. Do you mind if I have a smoke with you?” He asked, facing Kenny with what looked to be a small smile. It was hard to tell with Craig. He was always so stoic.

“Uh, no, not at all. Do you need one or do you have your own?” Kenny responded, his eyebrows still furrowed.

“I’ve got my own, thanks.” Craig then pulled out a pack of cigarettes and took one out before placing the pack back in his hoodie pocket. He then pat his jean pockets, most likely searching for a lighter. “Ugh, I think I left my lighter at home. Can I borrow yours?”

“Sure.” Kenny decided at this point to just go with it, just like yesterday. He wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, but it wasn’t like he disliked Craig; he didn’t mind his company at all, if Kenny was being honest. He took his lighter out of his pocket and handed it to Craig, who thanked him quickly and lit up his cigarette. He handed the lighter back to Kenny and took a drag off of his newly lit cig.

Kenny took puffs of his own silently, not entirely sure what to say.

“So, how’ve you been?” Craig broke the silence finally, albeit a bit awkwardly.

“Why do you care?” Kenny countered. He made sure not to sound hostile because Craig was a good five inches taller than him and he was 100% sure that he could beat the shit out of Kenny if he made him upset.

“What? Am I not allowed to try and make a friend?” Craig responded, raising an eyebrow at Kenny who slumped his shoulders in return.

“I guess you are, but why do you wanna be friends with me?”

“Just ‘cause.”

Kenny got the idea that Craig wasn’t going to elaborate any more than that, so he decided to drop it.

“So, let me ask this again. How’ve you been?” Craig repeats his question from minutes before, taking another drag of his cigarette.

Kenny sighed, flicking his own cigarette. “I’ve been okay. I’m about 98% I flunked the English test today though, which kinda sucks.” He decided to answer honestly, he really didn’t want the conversation to stay boring.

“Oh, the one on The Crucible? Yeah, I don’t think I did too good on that either. English isn’t my strong suit.” Craig responded, shaking his head slightly to himself.

“School isn’t my strong suit.” Kenny responded, which pulled a quiet chuckle out of Craig.

They talked back and forth until their cigarettes were out and continued to talk after that. Kenny was beginning to realise that past the stoic asshole surface, Craig actually wasn’t half bad to chat with. Kenny found himself enjoying their little talk.

Once the bell range to go back to class, Craig excused himself with a “see you later” and then headed back inside the building.

Kenny still wasn’t getting why Craig wanted to interact with him so bad, but now he didn’t really mind it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i think it's showing that there are two end notes right now but that may be just a glitch?? idk if it's just for me or everyone can see it but anyways i hope you all enjoyed this chapter

**Author's Note:**

> hello!! so i don't write much so i'm sure this wasn't very great but i hope you liked it anyways! i don't know how fast updates will be, but i'll try to keep them semi-consistent!


End file.
